-- Megaman X - Evolution --
-- Part 5 --
The base in Antarctica had been used previously as a weather outpost by the humans years before Dr. Cain had created the first reploids. When it was discovered that the shelves were beginning to separate from the continent, it was crucial to find a way to support the base indefinitely through the hopefully avoidable melting. While one half of the base was in charge of fully assessing the weather damage in the region, the rest had excavated a hole deep beneath the base, in an attempt to find solid ground underneath, using that as a new construction frontier.
The thing about the new terrain was that it was discovered to be rich in a special mineral called Disodium Carbonate, or DSC. A sample had been sent to another testing facility on the European mainland and they realized that by binding the new compound with existing raw metals, it could increase the integrity between atoms by tenfold, allowing the resilience of the metals that were tested to withstand much more physical trauma and inherently become impenetrable by armor-piercing rounds. The base had been abandoned and destroyed during the invasion, but the Ghazarkhan knew nothing about the construction front beneath it.
That, at least, was enough reason to convert the station into a global surveillance epicenter for the Maverick Hunters. Unfortunately, as Alia surveilled the area as they began to descend for landing, that idea could be well forgotten as scattered debris and reploid parts littered the ground around the base. The base itself has sustained minimal damage, but further down the shelf the radar array had been destroyed completely. Again.
"Coming down for descent, Ma'am," Axl reported, taking a final pass around the landing pad, "Looks cozy down there, for sure...No reading on biometrics or energy sources. Pretty dead down there."
He didn't seem too convinced. Bass chuckled, but remained silent as they deployed landing gear. They both unbuckled their crash webbing and moved to the back of the craft where Alia was sitting patiently, a saddened look on her face as she surveyed the damage.
"Ready to rock, Alia?" Bass said, arming his buster cannon, "Me and Axl will take point, if you want you can come with us or stay here and watch the ship for us,"
Alia unbuckled her webbing as he spoke, and walked over to the rear of the ship. She opened up the small cargo unit there and pulled out a heavy repeater from the small array of weapons. She examined the weapon for damage, attached a scope, cocked and loaded the chamber, and turned to face bass, raising an eyebrow at him. Bass exchanged glances with Axl, and they both smiled, returning her gaze.
"Well, after you, Ma'am," Bass said, extending his hand for her to lead the way. She smiled at him, and pressed one of the buttons beside the door, opening the hatch and lowering the ramp at the same time. She marched out first, surveilling the area with the scope, as Bass and Axl did the same with their own weapons.
"Well, since the power is dead, the door passwords should have automatically reset themselves so we should be needing one of these," Alia said, taking a small datapad from her left side, "Give me a 30 second date with the control panel and we'll be at home base in no time."
Axl chuckled, thinking of a human joke he once heard, "Jeez, you don't waste any time, do you?"
"Well, a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do," She said, picking up on the human humour and laughing.
Bass snuck up to the main door, Axl aiming at the hatch while Bass and Alia took positions on each side. Axl nodded to Bass, and Bass nodded to Alia. She set down her rifle and hooked up the datapad to the terminal, quickly setting up her hack program and rebooting the password servers. Half a minute later the light on the door turned green and it opened, and Axl stepped in with caution, making sure the hallways were clear. Bass and Alia remained to make sure nobody came following, and waited for Axl's signal.
Walking along the dark corridor, he barely took ten steps when a shower of sparks burst out from the roof, making him shoot to the floor, taking aim at the roof. When the sparks stopped, he looked back at Alia and Bass, a suprised look on his face.
"Automatic lights," Alia explained, "The lower part of the base is shielded from scans, so the backup generator must still be running at minimal power. We had this problem with it before, as the generator was originally designed to re-power that entire radar array we saw outside. What happens is an overload of the circuit, so I'll see if I can't turn the proximity sensors off from here,"
"We can't just leave you by the door, and we need to keep moving, so you'll have to do it from a different terminal," Bass said, moving behind Axl who had continued moving forward.
Axl reached the first intersection, making sure it was clear, and motioned for Bass to follow. Sparks flew from the roof again, but it didn't seem to phaze him. Axl watched him approach in admiration, regardless of their little tussle at the base. Alia slowly moved in behind them, flinching at the sparks but continued forward.
"There should be an elevator still running off that generator," she said, motioning down the left hall with her weapon, "It's in that direction, but if it doesn't work we'll have to use the stairs to get to the communications hub. I can try to fix the power, but it will take time"
Bass looked at Alia in contemplation, then finally said, "Alright, well we might find a terminal and..."
His voice trailed off, and Axl could see his eyes beginning to enlarge, that purple flame growing brighter. For a few moments Bass just stood there, not moving an inch. Axl and Alia raised their weapons, wondering what Bass was picking up on.
"Bass..." Alia began to say, but Bass silenced her immediately. He stared down the corridor for a good minute, quiet and unmoving in the silence. Axl shifted his weight between his feet and stared down the corridor, and Alia did the same. Axl could swear he saw a shadow resembling a figure in the darkness but it disappeared and he passed it off.
But he was sure he saw something.
"Bass, what's going on?" He asked, still staring down the corridor. Bass said nothing for a moment, then turned his head and walked in the direction Alia had pointed to earlier.
"It's nothing," Bass replied, sparks flying down from the roof above his head, "We have to keep moving to that elevator and fix the power situation."
Axl began to walk behind him, re-arming his blaster pistols as Alia stopped, looked down the hallway one last time, and moved along with them.
--
"Sir, we still have no contact from the re-inforcements we sent to East Valley City," Furion called out to Signas from the data terminal he was operating, "I could give them a bit more time, but it's your call."
Signas stared blankly at Furion for a moment, not sure if waiting for the reply was worth what was at stake in the facility. He recalled a memory of himself sitting with Godwin during a private mission briefing, informing him about a secret operation that came above any objective he had received earlier.
"Commander Godwin," He said, saluting then shaking hands, "Hope you're finished prepping your gear, you're gonna be here for a few minutes,"
"With all due respect, Signas, I'm kind of wondering if I want to hear what you have to say," Godwin replied, "Based on the nature of the briefing, of course."
Signas smiled, thinking of what to say next, "You know, this war has been devastating for us all...If we hadn't taken that immediate friendship with the Ghazarkhan for granted, maybe we could have seen this coming from a mile away..."
"If I may say so, Sir, we're still alive and kicking, so far as I know," Godwin said, smiling devilishly.
Signas didn't seem to share his enthusiasm, but smiled slightly anyways.
"What would you say if I told you we could kick back so hard, we'd win the war?"
Godwin looked at Signas, not sure what to make of that last statement. He stared for a good moment, Signas staring right back at him.
"Well, I'd say I'm the man for the job, sir."
Signas changed his expression from a hopeful stare to a huge smile, now relaxed knowing they shared a common goal. He turned around and flicked on the screen displaying a wireframe image of the East Valley City Weapons Plant, slowly rotating to multiple angles.
"This is a map of the facility. You have the same one stored in your memory unit, but this one is different in that it reveals a second basement deeper beneath the first basement, only connected to the main part of the base by a large elevator here," He clicked the remote to zoom in and follow along the wireframe drawing to the second basement.
"Unfortunately for us, as this is a civilian contractor's facility, Vladimir Cossack the 2nd to be precise, we do not have the appropriate passcodes," Signas explained, "They were lost with the security officer stationed there when he died. However, the security modules in place can be manually reset, along with the passwords, and from there we can change them to access the underground area."
"So we know how to get in. What are we taking out?"
"8 packages, 7 of which are Nuclear Warheads."
Godwin's eyes opened in surprise, "Nuclear Warheads? I didn't think any of them were left..."
His voice trailed off. They stood in silence as Godwin thought about the possibilities they could now pursue. Still, there should be more than this down there for Signas to care this much.
"I know you might have inhibitions about this assignment but you can see how vital this really is," Signas said, finally breaking the silence. "We have a plan in place do feint the enemy, and the warheads are crucial to that mission's success,"
"I understand that, sir," Godwin said, rubbing his chin, "But what's in the eight package?"
Signas looked at Godwin with a wierd look, his eyes looking at Godwin with hope.
"That I cannot say for sure. The only intelligence we have on the package is what's on the packing list," Signas clicked a button on his remote, revealing a list of the items in the storehouse, "When we were made aware of the storage unit, we began to scan the list and found this."
He clicked the remote again and the cursor on the screen scrolled down a small ways to an item described as "Crate", packing number #3028342-23. Godwin was slightly confused, continuing to read the information on screen.
"So, it's just an empty box," Godwin said, "What's so speial about it?"
"The owner of the box is of particular interest to us,"
"Who is it?"
"You wouldn't know him,"
"Signas, you're killing me here..."
"You'll find out when you get there. I think it'll be a nice surprise for you, trust me."
Godwin shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself. Anything else?"
Signas shook his head. They exchanged salutes, and shook hands once more.
"You have reinforcements standing by," Signas said, still gripping Godwin's hand, "Don't be a hero if you need them before the mission is over. We're blowing the place to kingdom come if you should fail this mission."
"Sir!"
Signas snapped back into the present. Furion was waiting for his decision, staring at Signas impatiently.
"I'm willing to wait a few more minutes," Signas said finally, "Give them 20 minutes,"
Furion nodded, then continued monitoring the channel. Signas watched the screens in front of him, detailing known enemy positions and other intel they had gathered for the day.
Better hurry, Godwin. We're out of time.
-- Part 6 --
Sarjeant First Class, Designation 502 lazily maneuvered the support vessel through the air, en route to East Valley City with the other ships following them. The corvettes alternated their flight pattern every so often, and they switched from flying directly in front of him to flying behind the rest of the envoy.
"Sharp, what's our ETA to the destination?"
502, AKA Sharp, turned his head to look at the Captain, a human by the name of Jarvis. Eddie Jarvis, to be exact, but Sharp didn't pay attention to much else besides his rank. The humans had a tendency for being...Overzealous in their attitude towards reploids, and even more so when a reploid was under their command.
Sharp sighed and pressed a button on the console to bring up the clock on screen. 14 minutes, 38 seconds and counting by their current airspeed, quickly doing the calculation in his head.
"Should be there on the hour, as expected sir!" He replied quickly. Like Sharp, humans didn't seem to care about the specifics about much of anything so long as it worked out for everyone involved.
"Good," The captain said, sneering at Sharp, "Open a channel to the rest of the envoy."
Sharp pressed a few buttons on the console. On the screen, multiple figures began to slowly pop up one after the other on the screen, switching the front view of the ship to Sharps console so he could continue piloting the ship.
"Gentlemen, as we approach the destination, I feel it's important to remind us all of the incredible odds at stake here," He said, clenching his jaw as he spoke. This annoyed the hell out of Sharp, but he continued piloting the ship regardless.
"We all know what's in that facility. And as much as I hate to say it," Sharp glanced over his shoulder, noticing the captains regret immediately, "We might...We might have to lose some good men down there today, human and reploid alike. We can only hope Godwin made it to the storage facility and secured the packages in one piece."
"But we are the last hope for all our different races," He said, sneaking a look at Sharp, "If we fall here, then this entire mission is for nothing. If we show fear, if we show any lack of commitment to our cause, we will lose this war indefinitely."
He paused here, thinking of what to say next, but could not. He stood from his chair, and saluted the screen. The captains of the other ship returned the salute, emotion in all their eyes. Sharp didn't fully understand the complete dynamics of human emotion, but as he glanced at the screen, looked into their eyes, he could see that this was a very powerful thing for them all to share. He could see the newfound determination in their eyes. That was simply something someone like Sharp could not speak for.
"Good luck, gentlemen."
The captain nodded at Sharp to shut down the channel. Sharp flipped the main screen back to normal and continued piloting the ship. Since he didn't receive a sneer this time, he marveled to himself at the new display of respect.
They finally approached the city. The facility was located 3 miles north from the city's center metropolis, extending to the very edge of the Industrial sector. The ships flew over the city like predators over a nest, casting dark reflections on the many windows of the skyscrapers in the setting sun.
Sharp flipped on the communicator, preparing to organize the flight pattern they'd been following the whole trip into a secondary pattern, which would condense the space between the ships, something Signas had whipped up before they left. Better organization was vital, he laughed. Orders were orders, though, so Sharp wasn't going to argue.
"This is 502 to all units, move into Beta Formation on my mark," He gave everyone a few seconds to prepare, "...Mark!"
The envoy tightened up in formation, now on final approach to the facility. Sharp looked up from his console to the screen, and was astonished to see a figure standing in front of the gate. He was about to alert the captain when the figure, to Sharps immense surprise, leapt into the air directly in front of them and hovered in midair, almost taunting them to fight him.
It was then that the captain took notice, and stood up from his chair in bewilderment.
"What in the hell is that!?" Captain Jarvis cried out, staring in shock. Sharp wasted no time, immediately turning on the emergency channel. This guy was right in their way, and he didn't seem to want to move regardless of the incoming ships in front of him.
"All units, evasive maneuver Echo!" Sharp said into the comm, "Break away, I repeat, break away!"
The ships broke their formation directly in half, but Sharp saw the figure pull something out from behind his neck. Returning his attention to the maneuver, he returned into formation with th fleet. The captain had been thrown to the ground by the evade, and was scrambling to his feet as they returned.
"Circle back, now!" He said, struggling to get back in his chair, "Order the Corvettes to get a clear visual on screen!"
"Escorts one and two, double back and get a clear visual on that figure," Sharp said into the radio, "Envoy vessels two through four, double back on my mark...Mark!"
The Corvettes didn't reply. As the envoy turned to face the enemy, the captain cursed under his breath as the figure came into view. The two Corvettes lay on the ground, smoke trails only remained from their descent to the ground. Sharp could almost see the figure sneering from the distance they had put between them and him, energy saber in hand.
"Jesus," The captain cursed, "That lunatic just took out our escort!"
"Very well observed, sir," Sharp said, slyly, "May I recommend we descend to the ground here rather than over there, perhaps?"
The captain looked at Sharp angrily, "No, you twit! Fire the phase cannons at that idiot! Destroy him!"
"Attention envoy vessels two through four, open fire on the new target," Sharp said, opening the emergency channel again, "Activate phase cannons one through six, fire at will!"
Streaks of blue modulated energy flew towards the target, but he appeared unmoved. The figure put away his beam saber, and for some reason that gave Sharp a memory of a certain Maverick Hunter he used to know. He tried to recall the facial imprint he might have stored for this unit, and remembered that Zero had used a beam saber in all of his advanced traning video's, and on the field.
Zero didn't move as the impending doom approached. He seemed almost intrigued by the trails of color streaking towards him. Then, at the last second, he raised his hand as if to grasp the energy, and Sharp watched, stunned, as every single shot was deflected by an invisible field in front of Zero.
"Sir, negative contact on the enemy," Sharp said, breaking away from the already scattered envoy, "We need a new plan-"
He didn't finish. Zero, who hadn't moved the entire time, was flying through the air towards one of the transport vessels at incredible speed. He maneuvered his way to the rear of the ship, and Sharp could only watch as Zero literally grabbed the tail, lifted the ship above his head, and threw it to the ground, the vessel flattening like a pancake as it touched the earth.
Sharp could hear odd vocalizations coming from behind him. He turned his head to see the captain sitting in his chair, jaw practically to the floor, and discovered that it was the captain making those noises.
"Captain?" Sharp asked inquisitively. The captain didn't even hear him, and Sharp didn't turn around see Zero flying towards them, beam saber in hand, and cut their ship directly in half. He didn't even hear the sizzling hot slag now separating the ship in two pieces popping and hissing in the cool air as the ship began to plummet to the ground.
All he was paying attention to was the fact that the captains necklace began to move from under his shirt. He didn't know why the captain suddenly passed out, but just then he began to experience a slight energy surge, breaking him from his trance.
Sharp jumped back to his console, not sure just what happened, or why the captains necklace was hovering in midair. As he faced the screen, the last thing he could do before the ground came crashing through the screen was cover his face.
--
"This console should work," Alia set down her rifle beside the elevator doors, hooking up her tablet to the terminal on the wall. Bass and Axl checked the various hallways, making sure nobody might be creeping around, lying in wait. Alia tapped furiously on her datapad, wasting no time in her efforts.
Axl checked the last hallway, and discovered a door at the end, partially open. Slowly he moved down the hallway, sparks exploding above him, making him flinch slightly. He finally approached the door, and looked in the crack only to see what seemed to resemble a person, lying on the floor face down.
Closing his eyes, Axl gently nudged the door open, sighing as the door creaked on it's hinge ever so slightly. He opened his eyes, only to see a pile of human carcasses lying in the center of the room. He could only stare as Bass came up behind him, resting his hand on Axl's shoulder. Axl turned his head to the left, acknowledging Bass's kindness, then turned to face him.
"Is it possible to forgive someone?" Axl said, motioning to the pile of corpses with his hand, "I mean, for all this? This utter act of hatred?"
Bass could see a little bit of emotion in the young reploids eyes, but he said nothing for a while until the lights came on a short moment later.
"I learned a long time ago forgiveness leads to nothing," Bass said, coldly staring into Axl's eyes, "When you decide if you want to live or die, your choice will be with you always, no matter how much you wish you could take it back,"
Axl was about to ask what he meant when Alia's voice took over their communications devices almost instantly.
"Guys, I've successfully completed the repair," She said into her communicator, "What did you guys find over there?"
"Nothing," Axl said aftr a long pause, "We're heading your way, over."
"Copy that," Alia responded, and the comm went inactive again. Axl looked up at Bass, and Bass moved out of his way, extending his arm for him to lead the way. Axl smiled slightly, then kept walking down the hallway to the elevator, Bass right behind him